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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Posted by Caitie F on September 21, 2010

With all the controversy going on with Speak, I thought I should read it to see how messed up this guy is. People have written much better posts about what is going one, so here are a couple of posts that say it better than I can.

I thought the guy was messed up before saying that the rape was soft porn. Now that I have read it I think he is sick. He think that was porn in any way? It was an attack on a scared 13 year old girl. There was nothing sexual, nothing pleasant about it. It was scary, fast, and painful. Yes, rape can be porn (and I still think that anyone who gets turned on by that is sick and disgusting) but in this book it is not treated that way at all. That he chose those words shows that he didn’t actually read anything in the book. I question whether he even read the scenes. They aren’t from the male perspective saying “this is great” they are from the innocent girl’s perspective saying “stop this is scary and it hurts”.

I wish I read this book as a middle school student. I wish every middle school girl would read this book because that is when the abuse starts. I have been lucky enough to not have ever experienced abuse, but I, sadly like everyone else, knows someone who has. I have friends who were raped and didn’t speak. I wish I could go back in time, take this book with me, and force her to read it. She did learn to speak up and is one of the strongest, most amazing women that I know, but it ruined her too. There are still days she can’t function.

To think that this man, who is supposed to be a man of God thinks that a book that can help young girls speak up and finds help should be banned, well that disgusts me. Anything that can help people who have experienced traumatic events should be readily available. This book is a great warning to all girls. If this ever happens to them they will know that they don’t have to be silent. They can find someone to talk to. They don’t have to let it ruin their lives.

Onto the rest of the book as a whole. If you have not read this book, go read it now. It is amazing writing with a great character and is one of the best YA books I have ever read. Excuse my wording, but it really speaks to the young adult audience. The voice is perfect, the setting and other characters of an actual high school is perfect, the view of teacher and principals is perfect, and the relationship with the parents is perfect. Some people may think that she should have opened up to her parents, but they never really tried to see what was wrong. They were too busy with their lives for her. They cared about their grades, but, at least from her perspective, did not care about their daughter.

6 Responses to “Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson”

I read this book about a year ago and was deeply affected by it. I really wish that I had read it as a 14 year old rather than a 28 year old. Honestly, I can’t remember the rape scene in the book–because in so many ways that’s not what the book was about–it was about how that rape totally tore Melinda apart. There’s a reason why Anderson chose to describe it so late in the novel. Porn–WTF???

I just don’t get people like that – why ban a book – use it to open a discussion instead! There is so much to love about Speak and it would be a wonderful book to discuss with kids – I would encourage them to read it.

[…] She also doesn’t forget the bad that has happened on the ship. In the first book, a character named Luthor attempts to rape her. It is only an attempt. She still struggles with it in this book. She si scared of him, she is scared to tell anyone what happened, even Elder. She can’t stand to be near him, especially since he still tries to harm her and has raped another young woman when he failed to rape Amy. When she finds out about the other woman, she tries to help her in anyway. Gives her support, even let’s her get a little revenge. I am not saying she deals with it in an ideal way, but I just find the entire story of it to be very powerful. It may be triggering to others who have had that happen to them, but it is one of the most impactful handles of the situtation in YA since Speak. […]